Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown
by IWishIWasAMermaid
Summary: When Mandy drops a bomb on Keely's territory, there is only one person that can save her. Now, I wonder who that could be?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Hello, welcome to Benny's Burger Bar, how can I help you?" Keely said in a bored voice, to the middle-aged man standing in front of her.

"Hi," the man smiled, revealing two rows of about three teeth.

Keely grimaced, but tried to keep her face straight. It was hard.

"I'm looking for two cheeseburgers, fries and a cola," he said, his eyes scanning the menu.

"Do you want a dessert?" Keely said, is the same bored tone.

He shook his head. "I'm watching my weight."

"Where are you expecting it to go?" Keely asked, unable to help herself.

After spending three hours in this wretched place, she needed some sarcasm to brighten what was left of her day.

"What?"

"Nothing," Keely rolled her eyes, knowing that her boss probably wouldn't like her being 'rude' to a customer. Not that she cared.

A job. Her mom's most ridiculous idea yet.

She had sat Keely down and told her that as much as she liked giving Keely money to buy things, she thought it was time that Keely earned her own money.

So, now, here she was, a Saturday, working at the most awful place in town, while her other friends did things that were reasonably…well…reasonable to do.

"That'll be five dollars," Keely sighed, as she punched a couple of things into the till.

The man handed over a five dollar bill that looked like it had been chewed, and then waited while Keely grabbed a couple of things from the shelves where the food was stacked, and shoved them on a tray.

"Thanks darling," he said, taking the tray.

"Eew," Keely shuddered as he walked away.

She had been called darling five times today, and mostly by elderly men.

Keely leant her elbow on the counter, and placed her chin on it. She had never been so bored.

Why did kids complain about going to school? Why did she complain about going to school? Because she'd so rather be slaving away at algebra, than slaving away at serving fat idiots.

"Keely!" Benny, the manager called to her. "Stop slacking!"

Keely rolled her eyes, and reluctantly stood up straight.

"Yeah Keely, stop slacking!" a familiar voice called from the doorway.

Keely rolled her eyes again.

"Nice outfit Keels," Via sniggered, as Keely turned to face them, her arms folded over her red dress.

That was the four-hundredth reason why this job sucked. The uniform. A red dress. With a collar. And a bow…eew…

"Very funny. Laugh it up. Go on!" Keely threw her arms up in the air.

"Don't mind if we do," Via said, and began to laugh.

Keely sighed, and then looked over at her best friend. Phil Diffy was standing behind the other two, and looking at Keely with an amused smile on his face. Keely knew that he couldn't be silent through all of this. No way. There was a smart remark heading her way pretty soon.

"Are you going for the Minnie Mouse look today, Keely?"

There it was.

Via and Owen collapsed with laughter, but Phil stood there, staring at Keely, a smirk on his face. It wasn't a mean smirk, just the kind of thing guys did when they wanted to annoy you.

"Good one. And I'm presuming you took the Tigger approach," Keely said, eyeing Phil's black and orange striped shirt.

Owen ooh-ed. "Burn!"

"Look, can you guys please leave, because I'm working here, and if you're just going to ridicule me…" Keely began.

Via stopped laughing. "Actually…"

"What?" Keely asked, fearing the answer.

"We're hungry," Owen said bluntly.

Keely's eyes widened. "And out of all the places you can eat, you chose here? There is no way that was a coincidence!"

"Well, no…but since we're here," Phil shrugged, and then pointed at the picture of the cheeseburger. "Still have any of these left?"

"Maybe," Keely sighed.

"I'll take that as a yes. Three of them, three fries and three cokes. Okay?" Phil asked, smiling at Keely.

Keely punched in the order. "That'll be nine dollars."

"Hey! What happened to the friend-of-an-employee discount?" Via objected.

"Oh, you don't get that any more," Keely said, holding her hand out for the money.

Phil sighed. "That's nice."

"I am nice," Keely said, took the money, and grabbed their order. "Thank you for coming to Benny's Burger Bar. I hope you choke on your meal."

**Hmm…yes, I did promise a sequel to Unbelievable, but the creative process for that story took a lot longer than the creative process for this story, so I will try to write that as soon as my brain gets a good idea. **

**I have no idea where I'm going with this story, so bear with me. If you can. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Keely walked out of the burger bar, and inhaled the fresh air. It was cool out here, even though it was one of the hottest days of the year. Anything would have been cooler than behind that furnace.

She tore the bow from around her waist, and tried to make herself look half decent.

"Cute," a voice from behind her made her jump.

"Phil? What the hell do you think you're doing making me jump like that? I thought someone was stalking me!" Keely cried, pulling the black shoes from her feet.

"If you thought it was a stalker, you would be halfway to your house by now," Phil said, taking the ribbon from her. "I'll hold your pretty ribbon."

"You can shove it up your butt, for all I give about it," Keely said, pulling her hair out of the two pigtails she had been told to put it in.

"Now, now, Keely. Let's not get angry. The ribbon did nothing wrong."

"It made me look like a idiot all day," Keely cried, and began walking down the street.

Phil laughed, and wrapped the ribbon round his hand. He had left Owen and Via in the burger bar, because when he saw Keely leaving, he didn't really want to stay anyway.

"Nice accessorizing," Keely commented, as they walked away from the restaurant.

"I know," Phil smiled, and then posed, trying to act like the women on the cover of the magazines his Mom was forever reading. He failed.

"I'd prefer it if you never did that again," Keely said, and then turned the corner, finally feeling free from the awful place she had been in all day.

"Yeah…" Phil said, unravelling the ribbon, and holding it out for Keely to take back.

She took it, and shoved it in her black bag. If it were up to her, she'd never look at the damned ribbon ever again, but she still had to attend next week. And the week after. And the week after. And the week after, until she managed to convince her mother that a Saturday job was the wrong way to go. And it was.

"So, what do you want to do tomorrow?" Phil asked, aware that ever since he had discovered that he liked Keely as more than a friend, things had been the slightest bit strained between them.

"Um…" Keely considered the options. "Well, we could go to the movies…"

"Seen all the decent ones in the cinema," Phil squashed the idea. "And even some of the chick-flicks."

Ignoring Phil's last comment, Keely carried on. "Um…mall?"

"So you can drag me into more clothing stores, and try on more clothes, and ask me to make more decisions about what looks good on you?" Phil asked.

"Well, I may as well not. You always say 'it looks nice'. How is that supposed to help me?" Keely exclaimed.

"And how is learning how to help you pick clothes, going to help me?" Phil asked.

"Didn't they tell you not to answer a question, with a question in the future?" Keely asked, making sure that there was nobody around to hear it. Except Phil.

"Nope," Phil grinned, knowing that it would make Keely annoyed.

"Well they totally should've!" Keely cried, hitting him on the arm.

Phil rolled his eyes, as the familiar houses lining Keely's street came into view.

"Home," Keely sighed. "After being behind that horrible fryer all day. I cannot stand that place!"

"Really? Could have fooled me," Phil said sarcastically. "Kidding! You could totally tell."

Keely groaned. "Phil, can you please help me get out of this stupid Saturday job? It sucks. I'm going to go insane. Plus, you have no idea how many creepy people go into that burger bar. And there's all these old guys telling me I'm hot. And there's these kids who yell at me. And I don't like it!" She drove her foot into the ground.

"Keely…Keel…simmer," Phil tried to calm his best friend down. She was really mad at this.

He hadn't been all too thrilled when she had told them that her mom had demanded that she get a Saturday job. It meant spending less time with her. Okay, so they spent pretty much all their time together, but he lost a whole five hours with her. Five hours. They could watch like, three movies in that time.

"Phil, after I'm changed, do you wanna go to the park or something?" Keely asked, calming down.

"Yeah," Phil smiled. "I'd like that."

Keely grinned. "Okay. Well, I have to get changed first."

"And I was just getting used to your Betty Boop look," Phil remarked, sarcastically.

"Well, I'll be wearing it next Saturday," Keely said, her calmness fading away. "And then the next Saturday. And every Saturday after that, until I'm sixty! Because I have no life!"

And she stalked off inside leaving Phil standing outside her house, wondering what the heck he was supposed to do now.

**Okay, it's taken longer than expected. And I'm so sorry. But I've been busy revising, and then updating my journal, and the time just seemed to fade away very slowly. But hopefully, I'll be updating again soon. Fingers crossed.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I know I usually put Authors Notes at the bottom, but this is like, an emergency. I got 3 reviews for my last chapter! And then 2 for my other story. C'mon people. If you like it, if you want to give me some pointers, criticism (only constructive), then just REVIEW! **

**_breathes_**

**Okay, so next chapter…**

**Chapter 3**

Phil rolled his eyes and sat down on Keely's front porch. It gave him a good chance to think about stuff that had been bugging him lately, without Pim being able to read his mind. Like, school, homework, his undying love for his best friend…stuff like that.

He tried to pinpoint the exact second he had fallen for Keely.

He thought it was the day of the Pickford Tomato Fight. And she had told him her deepest darkest secret.

"_Sometimes, I dream I'm married to Mr Potato Head and we live in a big condo in California and I want to be a doctor but he wants me to stay at home and look after our five spuds," Keely said, rocking her arms like she has holding a baby. _

"_So…why are you telling me this?" Phil asked._

"_Because. It's my deepest, darkest secret. And because I know what's going on," Keely explained, walking toward him. _

_Phil looked confused. _

"_I found this in the goop," Keely said, holding up the model toe that had caused all of the trouble that afternoon.  
Phil panicked. "What? It's…it's not mine!"  
Keely raised her eyebrows, and then read an inscription on the back of the toe. "Property of P. Diffy? Look Phil, so what? You have four toes," she sat down next to him. "You don't have to hide things from me."_

"_Really?" Phil smiled. Maybe it would all be okay…._

"_Yeah. You spent the last three days, lying and acting all weird, and throwing tomatoes at me just because of a…pinky toe?" Keely asked, looking confused. _

"_Does feel kinda good to get my toe off my chest," Phil joked, and looked sideways at Keely, who was laughing. _

"_Phil. You're my best friend. Just promise me, no more secrets. You and I are on a…100 honesty pact. Deal?" _

"_Deal," Phil agreed, shaking his best friend's hand. _

_Keely grinned, and got up to leave. _

"_Wait. Uh, there's one more thing," Phil said, looking worried as he got up. _

"_What is it? Don't worry!" Keely reassured him, turning round, and walking back toward him. _

_Phil sighed. "The reason I have four toes, is because…where I'm from, everyone does."_

_Keely looked confused. _

"_I grew up over one hundred years from now," Phil blurted out, biting his lip. "I'm from the future."_

His cell phone ringing snapped him out of his memory. He flipped it open. He still thought communicating by Wizrd was easier, but none of his friends had one of them. Duh.

"Phil, aren't you coming in?" Keely said, on the other end of the phone.

Phil wrinkled his nose. "Aren't you paying for this call?"

"Yeah," Keely said, a-matter-of-factly.

"Then why didn't you just stick your head out of the window and yell. It would have saved money," Phil stated, confused.

He heard Keely sigh. "Yeah, because I've just straightened my hair, and I'm gonna lean out of the window, into the wind, where my hair is going to go haywire. Come on Phil…"

"You're right. I mean, I'd rather have perfect hair, than lean out the window. Even though, I'm going to be coming out into the wind in a minute," Phil rolled his eyes, even though Keely couldn't see him.

"I heard that! I heard you roll your eyes!" Keely exclaimed.

Phil raised his eyebrows. How the hell could anybody _hear _someone roll their eyes?

"Don't you raise your eyebrows at me, Phillip Diffy," Keely said. She might have been in a completely different room, but she knew Phil Diffy too well.

"Well, to answer the question that you rung me to ask, no, I'm not coming in. I don't really see the point. It's a beautiful day, and I'm sitting in the sun. And when you're ready, we're going to the park, and there we're going to be in the sun as well. So, get ready, and then get your butt down here, right now," Phil said, leaning back on the porch, propping an elbow on the wood.

He closed his eyes, waiting for Keely to answer. She didn't for a while. And when she did, her voice was closer than he expected.

He felt a breath on his ear, and then…

"Ready!" Keely yelled into his ear, causing Phil to sit up abruptly.

"Flipping heck Keely!" Phil cried, holding his right ear.

Keely just tilted her head, and smiled sweetly. "Let's go then."

Phil sighed, and got up, and they began walking down the street toward the park.

"So, do you like it?" Keely said, doing a twirl.

Phil squinted at her. "What? You're speaking in the ear that you just deafened."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you like it?" Keely cried into his ear, making him clap a hand to it again.

"Keely! Stop doing that!" Phil groaned.

Keely looked at him innocently. "I'm sorry. It's just, you said that you couldn't hear."

"Sarcasm. You might be familiar with the term," Phil stated, crossing his arms.

"I just might," Keely replied. "So, do you like it?"

Phil looked at Keely's outfit. A pink off-the-shoulder top, and jeans. "Yeah…why?"

"Frikin heck, can't I ask you if I look nice?" Keely asked. "Do you have to always be so suspicious?"

Phil nodded. "Yes. Anybody could be an FBI agent, just waiting to find a family from the future, to round up and put in a circus."

"Yeah. Because every FBI agent in 2006 is aching to find a family from the future," Keely rolled her eyes, and kicked a stone out of the path.

"You know what I mean," Phil sighed.

Keely laughed. "Yeah, right. Because I always know what you and Via are talking about. It sucks having two geniuses for friends."

"You have Owen," Phil said.

"Great consolation. I'm not smart enough to join in a conversation between Phil and Via. Not dumb enough to join a convo with Owen and his food."

Phil grimaced. "You noticed that he talks to his food?"

"Everyone notices that he talks to his food," Keely commented.

Phil nodded. "Right."

They walked through the huge gates into the Pickford Park. It was a really nice day, and being a Saturday, there were kids running around, and families having picnics on the grass.

"Scraps," Keely muttered. "We should have totally brought food with us. Can you believe, that I work in a frikin burger bar, yet I'm not allowed to eat even one chip?"

Phil laughed. "I don't think you're supposed to eat on the job, Keels."

"But I couldn't even get a drink. And it's like, 900 degrees behind that counter."

Phil shook his head. "It can't be. The melting point of aluminium is 900 degrees. And I didn't see the aluminium melting behind there."

"Oh, whatever. You weren't behind the frikin thing all day," Keely rolled her eyes. Trust Phil to be scientific.

"And if it makes you this cranky, I'm getting a Saturday job somewhere else," Phil smiled.

Keely sighed. "You do that then."

There was a few minutes of silence then. None of them really knew what to say to the other.

"Um…" Phil began, trying to work out what to say. "Do you want an ice cream?"

Thankfully, the ice cream van had just appeared around the corner, and he knew that Keely loved ice cream.

"Are you sure? Because I don't get paid until next week…" Keely began.

"Keely. You're always like this. Insisting that I don't pay. In the future, everyone pays for everything," Phil reassured her.

"Well here, it's kinda what boyfriends do for their girlfriends," Keely stammered, looking at the floor, because she knew that her cheeks were going to go red.

"Oh. Well, can't a friend do it for a friend?" Phil asked.

Keely shrugged, still looking at her flip-flops. "I guess. If you want to."

"Well then. What flavour do you want?" Phil asked, as they came up to the van.

Keely shrugged again. "Surprise me. I'll go sit in that tree."

Phil smiled as Keely ran off, and began to climb onto the branch of a tree. When she got to the branch that she wanted to sit on, she turned to face him, and waved.

The sunlight was reflecting off her hair, and her eyes were sparkling.

Phil waved back, and handed the money over to the driver of the ice cream truck.

"Your girlfriend?" the man asked, leaning his elbow on the counter in the van.

"No," Phil said, but wasn't actually concentrating.

The man laughed. "Betcha she will be by the end of the summer."

Phil thanked him for the ice creams, and then went off to join Keely.

He got up in the tree with her and handed her a chocolate ice cream.

"Chocolate?" Keely looked at it with disdain. Phil sighed.

"Joking!" Keely said hurridly, seeing the look on his face. "Cheers!"

They clinked ice creams, and then sat, watching the life around them.

**Now review. Otherwise I won't make another chapter. Or write another chapter. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay! 8 reviews! You guys SO deserve another chapter. And then more after that…lol.**

**Chapter 4**

"Frikin heck," Keely said, looking at her watch. "I was supposed to be home half an hour ago."

"Why?" Phil asked, as the sun began to melt in the sky.

Keely looked over at it, and threw her head back. "My mom wanted to talk to me about something. Over dinner. Hey, Phil, will you come with me?"

"Where?" Phil said, wondering what Keely was actually asking.

"Dinner, you idiot," Keely said, rolling her eyes. "Mom won't mind. She knows that you're more or less part of the family."

Phil lost her at this. Did she mean part of the family, as in brother-like? Or part of the family, as in boyfriend-like. With Keely is was almost impossible to tell.

"…and it's probably not even that important anyway, and then I'll have rushed home for absolutely nothing. Which I'd be annoyed by. So, will you come?" Keely finished, but when she looked over at Phil it was clear that he hadn't been listening. "Hello? Have you been listening to a word I've said?"

"What? Oh…yeah," Phil said, but he was still deep in thought.

Keely rolled her eyes. "And after dinner, we thought we'd go and throw ourselves off the top of the Golden Gate Bridge."

"Sounds cool," Phil muttered.

"And then, we'd swim all the way to London, you know, avoiding the killer clown fish in the ocean, and then when we got there, we thought we'd party with the Queen. And Elvis Presley," Keely said.

"Great," Phil said, still staring into the distance aimlessly.

"Phil!" Keely screeched, almost causing him to fall out of the tree, and the birds to fly away.

"What?" Phil asked, his thoughts interrupted.

Keely sighed. "You weren't listening to me."

"Yes I was," Phil said defensively.

Keely scoffed. "Yeah, right. So, you agree. We'll drive to San Francisco after dinner, jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, swim to London, then throw a huge disco, inviting the Queen and Elvis."

"C'mon Keely, that could never happen," Phil snorted.

Keely groaned, and slapped her hand to her head. "Can we please just get back. If I'm any later, my Mom'll want to kill someone. And I might just volunteer you."

"Thanks," Phil said, jumping out of the tree, and landing on his back. "Ow."

Keely laughed, and jumped out, landing on her feet. "You need some help, Spiderman?"

"If I'm Spiderman, then what are you?" Phil asked.

"Catwoman," Keely laughed, and then scowled. "And Catwoman and Spiderman are enemies."

"They are not," Phil said, taking her hand and hauling himself up. "You totally made that up."

"How the hell would you know?" Keely asked. "You're from the next century."

Phil thought about this. "Well, I saw Spiderman 2 with you."

"But, he didn't mention Catwoman," Keely said, as they began to walk out of the park.

"Exactly!" Phil cried, triumphantly.

"But just because she wasn't mentioned, doesn't mean that he wasn't enemies with her," Keely stated.

Phil couldn't think of anything to say to this, and so just laughed.

"What?" Keely asked. "Do I have something on my face?"

Phil shook his head. "Listen to us. Arguing about Catwoman and Spiderman."

"Well, we have absolutely nothing else to argue about," Keely grinned. "We're that perfect. Well, I'm that perfect."

"You wanna bet?" Phil said, grabbing her arm.

Keely tried to wriggle from his grasp, but couldn't. "Let go of me."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"If you were perfect, you'd be able to get me off you," Phil laughed.

Keely thought for a minute, and then smiled. "Okay."

"So, what're you gonna do?" Phil asked, waiting to see how exactly she was going to manage it.

Keely bent down, and opened her mouth.

"Ow!" Phil said, nursing his hand. The hand that Keely had just bitten.

"Stop being a baby, I hardly got my teeth into you," Keely giggled.

Phil glared at her. "Let the bitten person be the judge of that."

"Whatever," Keely said, running ahead. "You said that if I got my arm free, then I would be perfect."

"There are more reasons why you're perfect," Phil blurted, and then realised what he'd said.

Keely had stopped dead, and so turned round slowly. "What?"

"Um…" Phil started, trying to think of a plausible excuse. "Nothing. My arm just hurts."

"Yeah. Sorry about that," Keely said, quietly. She knew full well what he had just said. She just found it unbelievable. "Here, let me see it."

"No, it's okay," Phil said, trying to smile. She might not have heard. Maybe…

"Let me see it," Keely insisted, walking back toward him.

"It's fine."

"Let me see it!" Keely cried, and Phil stretched his arm out.

Keely examined it, and then looked up at Phil. "I'm so sorry. I just…"

"It doesn't matter," Phil insisted.

Keely nodded. "Yes it does matter. I hurt you. Why did I hurt you? The last thing in the world that I want, is to hurt you. Why am I so stupid?"

"You're not stupid Keels. No way," Phil reassured her. "And it doesn't hurt that much. It's totally fading."

Keely looked up him, tears in her eyes. "Really?"

"Sure," Phil said. He didn't want to see her like this.

Keely smiled, and then wiped her eyes. "God, I feel like such a baby. It was just having to work at that god-forsaken place, and so I'm like, really tired."

"Well, let's get you home, so we can go out, and then you can get home. Because I am not going to see a chick-flick on my own tomorrow," Phil smiled.

Keely nodded. "You'll come to the dinner then?"

"I said so, didn't I?" Phil grinned.

Keely shrugged. "Dunno. It was kinda hard to tell what you were saying yes to, and what you were just saying anything to."

"Right," Phil said, and wondered how many hints he had given her that day.

"Cool. Well, I'm already late, so we'd better hurry. And like, fast," Keely said, pulling Phil's arm.

Phil nodded, and so they ran up the street to Keely's house.

When they got there, Mandy Teslow was stood outside. She sighed with relief when she saw Keely and Phil, and ran toward them.

"Keely Renae Teslow. You're so late," Mandy said, hugging her.

Keely nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry. Me and Phil lost track of time, and we both got home as fast as we could."

"Ah, so Phil Diffy is the reason my daughter is late. Where have I heard that one before? Hmm…every night for the past few years," Mandy said, and smiled at Phil.

"Can Phil come out to dinner with us tonight Mom?" Keely asked.

Mandy thought for a minute. Should she break the news when Phil was with Keely? Maybe it would be best…Keely could have a friend with her when she met him.

"Sure. He's very welcome. Actually, I've invited a friend as well. I'd like you to meet him," Mandy smiled.

"Him?" Keely asked.

Mandy nodded. "Well, Phil, do you want to go in and tell your mother that you'll be dining with us tonight? Keely, you can get changed if you want."

"Sure," Phil said, sensing that Keely wasn't that happy with her mother inviting a guy she didn't know to have dinner with them. "Keely, can I talk to you?"

Keely tore her eyes away from her mother, and looked at Phil. "Yeah, whatever."

They both walked indoors.

"How dare she? Invite someone to our dinner," Keely threw her arms in the air.

"You mean, like you did?" Phil asked, picking up the phone.

Keely rolled her eyes. "Not the point. Mom knew you. I knew you. Everyone knew you. Not everyone knows this guy."

"Your mom does," Phil said, dialling the number in.

Keely sighed, and sat on the bottom of the stairs.

"Give the guy a chance. He could be interesting," Phil said, as he waited for someone to pick up.

"Whatever," Keely said. "I'm going up to get changed, okay?"

Phil nodded, and then Pim answered the phone.

"Pim, can you give the phone to Mom please?"

Keely trudged up the stairs to her room.

**Okay. Thank you for the reviews. I'm happy now. So next update soon. ;-)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Keely re-emerged from her room, only ten minutes later, wearing jeans and a t-shirt that said VINTAGE. Phil was surprised at the rapid change, but Mandy didn't look as amused.

"Keely? What are you wearing?"

Keely looked down at her outfit. "Clothes. Why, do you want me to wear a sack?"

"But we're going to that fancy place in town," Mandy said, trying to find out why her daughter was dressed even more casual than she had been when she left the house that afternoon.

"So, why can't I wear this?" Keely asked, gesturing her outfit.

Mandy wrinkled her nose. "Well, it's not exactly suitable, is it?"

"Mom, it's Phil. And your 'friend'," Keely said, emphasising friend, telling her Mom that she knew that friend wasn't the right choice of words.

"Well, I was thinking more along the lines of you wearing that dress I bought you for your school dance next week," Mandy suggested, trying to ignore the previous comment made by her daughter.

Keely raised her eyebrows. "So, when you bought me that dress for the dance, you were actually buying it for this dinner with you and this guy I don't know?"

"No. It just occurred to me that maybe…" Mandy began, but stopped at the fierce look on her daughter's face.

"Fine," Keely cried, and began to storm up the stairs. "Phil, get up here!"

Phil looked at Mrs. Teslow apologetically, but she shook her head, and then motioned for him to follow Keely. He was he best friend. Maybe he could talk her out of this bad mood.

"Keels?" he knocked on her bedroom door, and was surprised when she said he could come in. She was getting changed, yet she was allowing her best guy-mate to sit with her.

When he walked in though, he saw Keely sitting on her bed, still wearing the clothes she had entered the hall in.

"Keely, are you okay?" Phil asked, sitting next to her. "I mean, sure, I can understand that you're not thrilled with the fact that your Mom has invited another guy to your dinner, but maybe he's just an old friend. Like me and you."

"But we're not just old friends are we?" Keely muttered.

Phil looked confused. "What?"

"Nothing. Look, I have a bad feeling about all of this. She keeps working late. She's forever e-mailing people on the computer. Gets phone calls that she doesn't like me listening in on. She's like a teenager. Like…well…me and you. I'm with you all the time. Always IM-ing you. And if Mom eavesdropped on my conversations with you, I'd be furious with her. Can't you see? She's like a teenager in love," Keely sighed.

Phil's mind raced. She had just compared her mother to teenagers in love. Using them as an example. What the hell was that about?

"I…I…I mean," Keely stammered, realising what she had said, and then she just looked at her fingers.

Phil looked at her. "Keely. Chill out. It'll all be okay. And hey, if this guy is her new boyfriend, what's so bad about that?"

"Nothing I guess…" Keely began, still wondering when he would ask her about what she had implied.

"Exactly. Your dad has been gone for…"

"Seven years," Keely told him.

Phil nodded. "Seven years. Surely she's waited long enough for him to come back?"

Keely nodded. "I guess so. It's just…what if?"

"If he comes back, then your Mom'll have to make the decision. Not you," Phil reassured her.

Keely sighed, and then nodded. "Thanks Phil. What the heck did I do to get a friend like you?"

"Nothing. It's what my dad didn't do that got us stuck here," Phil smiled. "I'll leave while you get ready…"

Keely shook her head. "It's okay. I'm only shoving on an old dress over the top."

"Old?" Phil asked. Hadn't Mrs. Teslow told her to put on a new one?

"Yeah. I bought that dress for the school dance. I'm not wearing that before the school dance. That'd mean I'd have to buy a new one for the dance," Keely explained, opening her closet.

Phil looked confused. "Can't you wear it on both nights?"

"Yeah, right," Keely laughed. "You crack me up Phil."

She pulled out a blue dress, and pulled it over her head. She grabbed a bag, and then turned to Phil and smiled.

"Ready?" she asked.

Phil nodded. "Ready."

---

"Keely, this is Graham," Mandy introduced her daughter to the man standing outside of the restaurant. "Graham, my daughter."

"Nice to meet you," Graham said, holding out a hand for Keely to shake.

Keely looked wary, but one glance at Phil made her extend her hand and shake his. "You too."

They got seated, and tossed small talk around while they ordered. Phil noticed that Keely was unusually quiet.

"So, Keely, has anyone asked you to the dance yet?" Mandy asked, trying to involve Keely in the conversations.

Keely looked up at her Mom. "It's a Girls-ask-Guys dance Mom. Unless a girl was going to ask me."

"Well do you know who you're going to ask yet?" Mandy said, pretty sure she knew who her daughter would end up going with.

Keely snuck a glance at Phil, but turned away quickly when their eyes locked.

"I used to love school dances," Graham smiled. "Me and my friends used to fly solo."

Keely rolled her eyes. Was it any wonder he never got asked? But, in an attempt to be a nice person, she forced a smile.

"So, Keely. Who do you want to ask?" Graham carried on.

She so wanted to snap something rude back at him, but resisted. Instead she shrugged, but she could feel her cheeks burning. She knew Phil was looking at her.

"Oh, leave her. She doesn't want to answer," Mandy laughed. It was so painfully obvious, she thought that Graham probably guessed it anyway.

"So, this is your best friend?" Graham asked, but Keely wasn't sure whether this question was directed at her or Phil.

"Yeah," Phil answered.

Keely nodded. "We've been best friends for three years. Since Phil crash-landed in Pickford."

"That was a metaphor," Phil said hurriedly.

Keely wrinkled her nose, and turned to look at Phil.

"What?" Phil asked, as Keely rolled her eyes.

Graham laughed, and Mandy laughed with him. As Phil watched them, he could tell that they were a couple. It was too obvious. Keely knew as well. But her Mom looked happy.

"Look, before you ask me any more pointless questions, to try to stop me from asking you any, I'm going to speak. I can tell you guys have been going out. Mom, you keep the phone next to you at all times. Won't let me answer it. And you're always on the computer, on your e-mail account. And you tell me you're working late, but you're all dressed up. I don't have a clue why I didn't see it before, but I didn't and so I'm sitting here, meeting this guy for the first time. To tell you the truth, I wasn't that thrilled when Mom told me that she was meeting a guy here, but I can see that you make her happy. So, I'm gonna say, you might not be the coolest person in the world, but you obviously make my Mom happy, so I guess you're not that bad," Keely announced.

"Well thank you Keely," Graham smiled.

Keely sighed, and she felt Phil grab her hand. Her body tingled, and she looked at her best friend and smiled.

"Well done Keels," Phil muttered, and laced their fingers together. Friends could do that, right? He was telling her he was proud of her. It can't have been easy.

Keely looked at him and smiled gratefully.

"Thank you Keely," Mandy smiled, but then sighed. "But there was something else we wanted to tell you. We have been going out these past few months, but…"

"But what Mom?" Keely asked, confused.

"Well, last night, Graham asked me a very important question. A question that will change our lives," Mandy explained.

Keely wrinkled her nose.

"He asked me to marry him," Mandy smiled. "And I said yes."

**Okay. **

**Review, and you get another chapter tomorrow evening. Otherwise you don't get one until Friday. It all depends on you pressing that blue button in the corner. **

**Okay?**

**Okay.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Well, last night, Graham asked me a very important question. A question that will change our lives," Mandy explained.

Keely wrinkled her nose.

"He asked me to marry him," Mandy smiled. "And I said yes."

Keely smiled in disbelief. "I'm sorry, run that by me one more time. Because it sure sounded like you said that you were getting married…"

"I did," Mandy said slowly, as if waiting to see if the bomb would explode, or just lie there.

Phil sat there, his mouth opened. Whatever he had expected out of this dinner, it had not been this.

"What? But…why? But I don't even know him. But…" Keely stammered, not knowing what to say.

"Well Keely, how could I say no?" Mandy smiled, looking up at Graham, with an expression that could only be described as love-struck.

Keely folded her arms. "Very easily. N. O. It's only one syllable. Not that hard. Here, practice. Mom, can I have a car?"

"No," Mandy said, automatically.

Keely threw her arms up in the air. "See? It wasn't that hard. You managed to say it without hesitation to me. Why the heck couldn't you say it to him as hastily?"

"Because I love him," Mandy defended herself. She hadn't expected Keely to resist this much. Resist, yes, but not this much. "Why are you resisting me?"

"Because I don't frikin want a stepfather. And I don't want a replacement for dad. And I don't want to attend a wedding. And I don't want…" Keely ranted.

Mandy held out her hand. "We'd be moving out of Pickford."

And just when Phil had been thinking that nothing worse could be happening.

"What?" Keely screamed, causing diners in the restaurant to look over at her.

"What?" Phil cried at the same time.

"Well, Graham has just accepted a job in Los Angeles," Mandy smiled, obviously expecting this piece of news to calm her daughter down.

"No frikin way!" Keely screamed, not caring at all whether the restaurant staff wanted to throw her out. They certainly looked like they did.

Mandy wrinkled her nose. "Well I thought you wanted to move out of Pickford. You were forever telling me that you wanted to be somewhere more exciting."

"I told you that three years ago. Before…" Keely screeched, but trailed off, looking over at Phil, who hadn't moved since Mandy had told them that Keely may be moving.

"So you don't want to anymore?" Mandy asked, looking confused.

"Do I sound like I frikin want to?" Keely cried, now standing up, towering over her mother.

Graham looked shocked. He had been told that Keely was a charming, funny girl, yet this person yelling at them wasn't either of those things. But Mandy had warned him that Keely may not take this news all that well. He hadn't expected this though.

"Mrs Teslow, are you begin serious?" Phil asked, leaning across the table, wondering whether this was all part of some sick joke.

Mandy nodded. "Of course I am."

"Well that's all I need. Stupid Saturday job, schoolgirl crush and to top it all off, my mother is getting married and relocating anywhere that isn't Pickford. Doesn't anything else matter to you?" Keely cried.

By now the staff were crowding round the table.

"Excuse me…" one of them asked.

"I'm talking," Keely snapped at him.

Mandy tried to talk. "Keely honey. We're only thinking of you. You've always wanted to be a singer. LA could give you a bigger boost."

"That shows how much you know about my life, then doesn't it Mom. I haven't wanted to be a singer for about a year. But you don't care about me, do you?" Keely asked, horrified that her Mom hadn't listened when she had talked about her dreams.

Phil looked horrified. "Mrs. Teslow, why are you doing this?"

"I love him," Mandy answered, as simply as possible.

Keely scoffed. "Why haven't you told me about him before. Obviously it's serious."

"Obviously," Phil chimed in.

"Well I didn't think you'd handle it well," Mandy explained.

Keely rolled her eyes. "Because I'm reacting brilliantly to it now, aren't I? In fact, I'm so brilliantly happy, and I'm bouncing off the ceiling."

"No need for the sarcasm now Keely," Graham butted in. It was his fault as much as Mandy's.

"You shut up," Keely barked.

"How the heck are you going to get money? Your business is here. And how are you going to see your friends? What were you thinking?" Phil asked, joining in on Keely's side.

"We love each other. And that's all that matters," Mandy smiled.

"Well I frikin love Phil, but you don't see me moving into his house to prove a point," Keely cried, her mouth moving before her brain had the chance to process it.

"Yeah," Phil agreed, and then he realised what she had said. "Hey, what?"

Keely went red, but then just turned on her heel and stormed out.

"Well, that went well," Graham sighed.

Phil turned to look at him, shot him a glare, and then leaned towards him and Mandy. "You guys are ruining her life. I think it's great you love each other. But think of Keely. Her whole life is here, and you're moving her away from it all. I'd seriously consider what you're going to say before you speak to her again."

Mandy looked on the verge of tears, but all Phil wanted to do was get to Keely. Tell her he loved her as well. Tell her that she could stay with her.

An arm grabbed him just as he was walking away.

"Phil. Tell Keely I'm sorry," Mandy whimpered.

Phil shrugged her off. "Tell her yourself. When you regain her trust. Until you get her to listen, don't expect me to. Night Mrs. Teslow."

And then he walked off, leaving Mandy and Graham wondering if they'd made a big mistake.

**Shortest of my chapters, but this was the most important parts. And I really couldn't make it any longer. I tried. But if I made it any longer it would just be boring. Yawn. **

**So, will she move, or will she not?**

**You only get to find out if you review. Mwahaha! I'm so evil. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Is this seat taken?" Phil asked, after standing watching Keely sitting on the side of the sidewalk for about ten minutes. She had been crying, and jumped a mile when she heard Phil's voice.

"God. If you had been a stalker Phil, I would have hit you," Keely sniffed.

"The second time today that I've been compared to a stalker. What is it with you and stalkers?" Phil tried to joke, but he knew that Keely wasn't exactly in the mood for jokes right now.

"Phil…about what I said in there," Keely began, knowing that she wouldn't be able to avoid the subject. "I didn't mean I loved you, loved you. I meant, loved you like a friend."

Phil's heart sank. But there was something that stopped it completely deflating. Some little spark in her eye that told him she was lying. Something that told him that she wasn't telling him the whole truth. "Keely…"

"No. Don't sit here and tell me it'll all be okay. Because it frikin isn't. And you know it. You were in there. They want me to move to LA with them, so we can be one big, fake happy family. Well, they can be one big happy family. I'll be the outcast. The loner. The one that doesn't fit in the jigsaw," Keely sobbed, tears beginning to form in her eyes once more.

"Keels, I gave them a mouthful once you left," Phil said, trying to comfort her.

"Yeah, but a mouthful won't put my mother off. Otherwise I'd take a pig and shove it down her throat. You know her Phil, only a really good reason not to move will persuade her. And that Graham is the reason to move. What's the reason not to move?"

Phil sighed. "Well, what about if you had things tying you down here? What about if you had something you committed to?"

"Like what? My career? A boyfriend? Come on Phil, you know my mother. She'd just be all 'well you'll find someone better in LA'," Keely sobbed.

Phil looked around him. All the lights were on over the restaurants. Considering how mad Keely was, she had only gone a few blocks away from the restaurant. "You didn't run away that far."

"Couldn't be bothered. You wanna give my Mom something to worry about though?" Keely said, wiping her eyes.

Phil shrugged. "Depends what it is…"

"Well, how do you think she'll feel about her sixteen year old daughter, running away into the night with her sixteen year old best friend, who actually happens to be a guy, and then resurfacing next morning, with no explanation to where they've been. Even better, tell her we jacked a car, and drove to an isolated place," Keely said, obviously enjoying planning revenge on her mother.

Phil had never seen this side of Keely. "I dunno. Your Mom seems pretty scary when she gets going. She might kill me."

"She's not that bad," Keely laughed. "Wait, what am I talking about. She's getting married to an idiot, and then migrating me to another blasted city. She is that bad. But I wouldn't let her kill you Phil. So, you up for it?"

"Where are we actually going?" Phil asked, not going to agree until he found out everything.

Keely shrugged. "Who cares? I just want to worry my Mom. Show her that I will not give in."

"But your Mom won't either," Phil told her.

Keely scoffed. "Please. She'll give in before I will. Eventually. But this is just a taster. I want to show her what hell she'll be in for the next couple of months."

"Months?" Phil asked, raising his eyebrows.

Keely nodded. "Oh yeah. It's going to be like World War Three in our house. Which is why, I'm going to be spending more time at your house."

More time with Keely? Okay. He was officially signing up.

"Okay. Phase 1?" Phil asked, standing up.

Keely got up next to him. "Worry Mom to death. Code-names?"

"I am NOT being Mr. Fuzzybear," Phil demanded.

Keely sighed. "Okay. Mr. Cuddle-bunny."

"Not that either," Phil said, as he began to walk up the street.

---

"Keels?" Phil asked as they walked deeper and deeper into the woods. "Where are we going?"

"I have no idea," Keely admitted as she sat herself down on a rock. "I just kept walking."

Phil rolled his eyes. Trust Keely to get him lost. "Well, we could go back to my house. Nobody would know."

"Um…your parents would. And I'll bet that your Mom would tell my Mom," Keely said.

Phil shook his head, and produced a bottle of Invisi-Spray from his pocket.

"Why the hell do you carry that around everywhere?" Keely asked, taking the bottle out of his hands.

Phil shrugged. "Just in case."

"In case of what? A mugging and you have to follow the guy? What are you, Spiderman?" Keely smirked.

"Catwoman?" Phil asked, returning the smirk.

Keely rolled her eyes. "We'd better not get into that one again…"

"I agree. Now are, we going or not?" Phil asked.

Keely sighed. "Yeah. But we'd better wait a while before we spray ourselves. You know, get closer. It only lasts half an hour once it's on."

"Well, then, let's go. It's already midnight. If we hurry we can make it back before Mom and Dad go to bed," Phil said, grabbing Keely's hand.

"What time do your parents go to bed?" Keely asked as the ran through the trees.

"One am. They haven't really gotten used to the time yet. Plus, Mom likes the tele-shopping shows on at that time," Phil called back.

Keely shook her head. She would never get used to that family.

---

Totally invisible, they crept up the stairs, trying to avoid the attention of the elder Diffy's.

"Lloyd, I'm going upstairs," they heard Barb call from the kitchen.

"Okay, night honey!" Lloyd said.

Phil gritted his teeth. "Keels, we have to go faster."

"I can't go faster. The stairs'll creak," Keely whispered back.

They watched as Barb walked out of the kitchen, and began to walk up the stairs.

"Go," Phil hissed under his breath.

They skimmed up the stairs, and managed to sneak into Phil's room, just as Barb walked past and into her bedroom. Waiting until Barb had closed her door, Phil closed his, hoping his mother hadn't noticed that his door had been open.

"Lloyd!" they heard Barb call back downstairs. "Did Phil say he was staying over at Keely's?"

"I think so!" Lloyd called back, and they heard Barb sigh with relief.

Not until they heard Lloyd come up the stairs and then the landing light click off, did they feel safe.

"That was like, so close," Keely whispered, sitting on Phil's bed, and suddenly re-appearing.

Phil nodded. "You take the bed Keels. I'll zap something up using the Wizrd."

"Phil, we can't sleep. What if we oversleep, and then your mom or dad comes in, and they see me? They'll tell Mom, and then Mom won't be worried at all," Keely panicked.

Phil rolled his eyes, but he agreed. They had come this far. And if it meant Keely not moving…

He would face a thousand sleepless nights, just to ensure Keely stayed in Pickford.

"So, what do you want to do?" Keely asked, the prospect of a long twelve hour night dawning on her.

Phil shrugged. "I'll soundproof the room. Pim has great hearing. And then we can surf the internet?"

"Sure," Keely smiled, glad to have something to do. Maybe surfing the internet would take her mind off Phil. And stop her saying anything else stupid. She had done that enough times today.

The clock hand moved silently to half-past one.

**No more updates tonight. I'm tired. Yawn. Maybe one tomorrow morning, but my friends are staying over, so no more tomorrow night. So whatever. **

**Enjoy. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"E-mail!" Keely announced, under her breath. She had done this randomly for every e-mail she had received since they had been there, and Phil had to admit, even though he had found it cute the first few times, now it was just annoying.

"Nice," Phil yawned, and leaned his head back, looking at the ceiling. Apparently Via was talking to her friends back in England, but as she was still up, Keely and her kept shooting messages back and forth.

"What'd Via say?" Phil asked, lifting his head, and watching Keely as she clicked open the e-mail.

_Oh my god, are you going to tell him? And what 'moments' are you talking about? I need specifics girl!_

_Phil would be lucky to have a girl like you. And you know it Keely. So you'd better tell him, otherwise I'll hurt him. And you. So tell him that you love him, and get it over with!_

Keely squealed as she read the letter, and hurriedly closed the e-mail. She knew that Phil read faster than her, but maybe…just maybe he hadn't seen it. Maybe…

"Keel? Is there something you want to tell me?" Phil asked, not believing what he had just read.

Keely didn't know what to say. Should she pretend everything was okay, and risk him thinking she was a liar? Or should she tell him everything, and then find out that he hadn't seen anything? It was enough to tear her apart. "Um…"

Phil wanted to know what she was thinking. He wanted to get into her head, to find out whether she agreed with what Via said, or thought Via was a raving lunatic. Then he realised how uncomfortable Keely looked, and realised the truth. And the whole truth. But he didn't want to pressure her. So he just waved a hand, and shook his head. "Never mind. You can tell me later."

"Yeah. I mean, if you freaked out, then you might wake your Mom up," Keely sighed with relief.

Phil leant back, suddenly feeling lighter. Knowing that Keely liked him back, made him feel considerably better.

He smiled, remembering all the hints he had. He should have picked it up. So much for him being smart.

"What're you thinking about?" Keely asked, closing down the Internet on Phil's computer.

Phil shrugged. "Nothing much."

"Yeah, right," Keely snorted. "Phil, math geniuses, don't think about 'nothing much'."

Phil considered relenting. Telling her exactly what was on his mind. But something stopped him. And it wasn't his brain.

It was the sudden sound of Keely's cell phone, cutting through the silence of the house like a knife.

Keely pulled out her cell phone, and just threw it onto the floor. It stopped ringing, but both Keely and Phil stayed frozen. If that had woken his parents…or Pim…

After a few minutes, they both breathed a sigh of relief, and hearts still racing, tried to stay calm.

"Sorry. I guess I forgot to turn it off," Keely breathed.

Phil nodded.

Keely then scrambled over to her phone, and took the battery out, making sure that the phone wouldn't ring out of the blue again. If it did, she might have a heart attack.

"So, what do you wanna do?" Phil asked, after his pulse had returned to normal.

Keely shrugged, and sat back in her chair, trying not to make too much noise.

"Didn't you say you'd sound-proofed the room?" Keely asked, still panicking about her phone.

"Yeah, but I didn't use a strong setting. Just strong enough. To cover our voices. The sound of the phone could have gotten through the barrier," Phil explained.

Keely sighed, and then folded her arms. "What do I want to do? I want to turn back time, to the day my Mom decided that moving was a good idea, and then be there to talk her out of it. But I don't have a time machine, so I won't be doing that."

"Well…" Phil said, trying not to let on too much.

Keely sighed. "Okay, so I know there's a time machine in your garage, but it's out of order, so I wasn't being blonde."

"Whatever you say Keely," Phil smirked.

Keely threw the pillow on her chair at Phil, narrowly missing his head. Then her face resumed her serious expression. "Phil, what am I going to do? How am I going to persuade my Mom that moving isn't the way to go?"

"We'll find a way Keels, promise," Phil reassured her, wanting to hug her. Unfortunately, if he leaned forward and held out his arms, he'd fall on his face.

A noise outside disturbed them.

The door handle turned, and both Phil and Keely held their breath.

"Can you both shut up? Because I'm presuming that Blondie isn't supposed to be here, and so you soundproofed your room. Yet, as I have ultra-sensitive hearing, I have heard everything that has been said," Pim stuck her head in.

"What're you doing up this late?" Phil hissed, hoping his sister wouldn't rat him out.

Pim rolled her eyes. "Look. This may be past your bedtime, but midnight hours are the best chance to be digging. And I need to put the finishing touches to Tunnel 8. It's caving in a little."

Keely sniggered.

"So, goodnight," Pim said, but before she shut the door, she added, "and don't be worried that I'll tell Mom. You didn't tell her about the tunnels, I won't say a thing about Blondie. So, then we'll be even."

And then the door was closed.

"Well, let's hope that your Mom didn't hear her," Keely said, and then yawned.

"I doubt it," Phil said, also yawning.

Keely smiled. "You can sleep if you want."

"No, you go first. I can wake you up if Mom comes in," Phil said, not wanting to fall asleep in front of Keely.

Keely looked over at Phil's bed.

"Sit with me?" she asked, and crawled up, resting her back on the headboard.

Phil nodded, and sat next to her.

The clock ticked to half past three.

**Hmmm…don't like this chapter. I'll live with it, but there's something not quite right. **

**Review anyway. **


	9. Chapter 9

"Ugh," Barb groaned, as the shrill ringing of the telephone aroused her from her sleep. She fumbled around for the receiver on her bedside table, and upon finding it, she brought it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Barb? Is Keely there?" Mandy Teslow's worried voice came from it.

"Mandy? It's six am…" Barb sighed. Why people got up so early in this century was beyond her. In the future, everybody woke up at about noon, and she much preferred that approach.

"I know, and I'm so sorry to bother you, it's just that Keely is missing," Mandy panicked.

This woke Barb up. "Are you sure she didn't just go out early? With Phil?"

"She didn't come back last night. Nor did Phil. I…we kind of dropped a bombshell on the both of them last night, and then they both ran off. We had a huge argument. We've been banned from the restaurant. I kept the door unlocked all night, but they obviously haven't been back. Keely's bed is un-slept in, and no clothes are missing, only the stuff that she was wearing, and Phil obviously hasn't been here. Are you sure you haven't seen them?" Mandy asked, rambling on.

Barb got up, so as not to wake her husband, who was sleeping next to her, unaware of anything going on in the world around him. "I haven't seen them Mandy. What did you say to them? Before they ran off?"

"Well, you see Barb, I'm getting re-married. And Graham has accepted a new job outside of Pickford. And when we told them this, Keely flipped, and Phil followed her. Naturally. I just thought that maybe Phil would be able to talk some sense into her. Obviously not. Not that I blame him. He looked livid when he left," Mandy rambled.

Barb walked out of the room. "Well, congratulations Mandy. I would say more, I'm just a bit worried about our children right now."

"Yes, me too. I can't think where they would be!" Mandy said, biting her nails.

Barb wrinkled her nose. Phil's bedroom door was closed. She may have been tired last night, but it had definitely been open when she was going to bed. "Mandy, I think I might know where they are. Can I ring you back?"

Mandy was hesitant. But Barb would tell her. Eventually. That was just who Barb was. "Okay. As long as you make sure they're safe. Are they safe?"

"I'm sure they are," Barb reassured her. Then she hung up, and put the phone on the small table in the hallway.

Then, she slowly made her way over to her son's closed bedroom door.

She stood outside the door, listening intently for any sound. Any sound at all. There was no sound.

Quietly, she pushed open the door, and gazed at the two teens.

Keely had her head on Phil's chest; Phil had his arm around Keely. Both were fast asleep, unaware of Barb standing in the doorway.

She smiled, and then silently shut the door. They obviously didn't want anyone to know they were there. She knew that she'd have to let on that she knew, but there was no reason Mandy had to know they were there. Barb promised herself, that when they woke up, to tell them that she was on their side. Which she was.

Then she made her way downstairs. Once she was awake, she wasn't going back to sleep again.

Keely's eyes snapped open. "Phil! Phil!" She shook her best friend awake, wondering what time it was.

"Five more minutes, Mom," Phil muttered, and turned over in his sleep.

"I am not your mother, nor do I wish to be," Keely snapped, and then shook him violently again. "We fell asleep!"

Phil shot up. "What?"

"We fell asleep. And you called me your Mom. But we'll come back to that later. We fell asleep!" Keely threw her arms in the air.

Phil looked at his watch. "It's seven thirty."

"So, did we get away with it?" Keely asked, wondering whether anyone had seen.

Phil shrugged. "I'm sure we did though. The door is still closed. And the sound barrier is still up."

"Cool," Keely sighed with relief.

They both looked at each other.

"Kids! Phil! Keely! Do you want some breakfast?" Barb's voice came from downstairs.

Keely and Phil both sighed.

"I guess not," Keely said.

But then they both caught each other's eye, and smiled.

They sat downstairs, eating.

"Keely, your mom called," Barb said, dishing up some more bacon. "That's how I knew you were here."

Keely looked at her plate. "Did you tell her I was here?"

"I'm guessing you wanted to worry her?" Barb asked, not really answering Keely's question. "And I didn't tell her. She knows that you're safe. I'm just glad Phil said you could come here. What was your plan? Go into the forest? Stay there all night?"

Keely looked over at Phil. "Your Mom is good."

"My job," Barb smiled. "I want you guys to know that I'm on your side. You guys are mad. I get it. But talk to her. Talk to your Mom and tell her that you don't want to move. Honey, she'll listen. If you tell her all your reasoning, then she'll see how you feel. You may still move, but at least you'll have tried."

Keely thought about this. "But you know my Mom. She never listens to me."

"Keely, if you tell her to listen, then she will. Your Mom may be pushy, but she's not that pushy. Try it. And if it doesn't work, then you can sneak into my house, and sleep in Phil's room."

Keely thought about this and then nodded. "Okay."

"Well, I for one am glad we sorted this whole issue out!" Phil announced, suddenly feeling left out of the conversation.

Keely rolled her eyes.

"So, is there any particular reason why the door was closed last night?" Barb asked, knowing that blushes would ensue.

Sure enough, they went bright red.

"Um…well we didn't know if you'd rat on us to my Mom," Keely said, stammering.

Phil nodded. "Um…yeah. What she said."

Barb smiled, and then walked over to the sink, and began to wash up the dishes, humming softly to herself.

**Planning on getting them together soon. Probably in the next chapter. I wanted to put it in here, but it just didn't fit. **

**But anyway. Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Keely looked over at Phil, who was standing outside her house, and took a deep breath. Somehow looking over at him gave her confidence. So she could go in and face her mother.

She opened the door, only to find her mother and Graham sitting, looking very serious. They didn't know she was coming, right? Barb had promised. And she trusted Barb.

"Keely! Where have you been?" Mandy cried, her serious face being replaced by a relieved one. Graham looked pretty pleased himself. Mandy ran up to her, and gripped her in a hug. Keely closed the door, difficultly as her Mom hugged her, blocking Phil's view inside.

"Mom, I need to talk to you," Keely sighed, and then wriggled out of her Mom's grasp. "And for once, I need you to listen."

Mandy sighed, like she knew that this was coming, and then sat back down. "Honey, I do listen to you."

"No, you don't. You thought I still wanted to be a singer. You thought that I wanted to move out of Pickford. You thought a lot of things, but if you had taken the time to listen to me, then you would have known that I didn't want all of these things. If you had done something so simple, as to listen to what I had to say," Keely defended.

Mandy sighed. She had thought she was listening. But she obviously hadn't been listening to her daughter. Memories of Keely trying to talk to her flashed into her head. She had nodded, but had been concentrating on dinner, or her expenses. Maybe if she had listened to her daughter's problems, neither of them would be sitting here now.

"Mom, I doubt you even knew that I loved Phil," Keely said, sitting down next to her Mom.

"That isn't true. I knew that. Me and Barb both knew that, even before you did. We could see. Before you chose to admit to yourselves," Mandy said.

Keely sighed. "Mom, you guessed. But when I tried to talk to you about it, you were on the phone, or working out numbers for a client. But I'm not a client Mom, I'm your daughter. I'm more important, aren't I?"

"Of course you are," Mandy reassured her. "I was just busy…"

Keely rolled her eyes. "Not too busy as to be dating again."

"Keely, I honestly believed I was doing the right thing. I thought I listened. But I obviously didn't. And I'm sorry. But you had no right to speak to me like that last night," Mandy said, the events of the night before coming back to her.

Keely looked at her Mom in disbelief. "Yes, I did. What would you have said if your Mom had decided she was marrying someone I didn't know? And then, on the same night, she announced that you were, as a result, moving out of the town you've lived in your whole life? The town you love? The town where the one you love lives? What would you have said?"

"Probably a lot worse than you did," Mandy admitted.

Keely turned to Graham. "And what about you? What would you have told your Mom?"

"Probably something very colourful. A lot ruder than what you said last night," Graham agreed.

Keely looked at her Mom. "See? You raised me right Mom. You taught me not to swear, and not to disrespect elders. I didn't disrespect you. Okay, I told you to shut your traps a few times, and I used the word 'frikin' a lot, but I never once swore. Or said anything really bad."

"Keely -" Mandy tried to interrupt.

Keely held out her hand. "No. Let me speak. And you brought my whole world crashing down. I spoke to Barb. She told me to tell you reasons why I shouldn't move. So, here they are. Pickford is my home town. I love it. I've lived here my whole life. It's familiar. I can go out, on my own, and you know that I'll be safe. You'll know that I won't get lost. In L.A, it's bigger, it's wilder, it's crazier. Would you be able to sleep at night, knowing I was out there? Or would you just not let me out? And Phil. Phil Diffy. You know that I love him. You knew I loved him. So why the hell are you moving me away from him? I may never find anyone as good as him. Heck, I know I'll never find anyone as good as him! And then there's the fact that I've just met this guy. I met him last night. And now you want me to move in with him. And move in with him in another house. I'm sorry Mom, but that doesn't feel right to me. It doesn't feel right. And you told me never to do anything that didn't feel right. Are you going to go back on your teachings?"

Mandy sighed. She was in a dilemma. Could she really ask Graham to turn down the job? But could she move her only daughter away from the things she loved?

She was stuck.

--

Phil checked his watch. It had been almost an hour since Keely had gone in there, and she was still stuck. But since he had had a time to think, he had decided that he was going to tell Keely. No matter what.

He suddenly got a glimpse of how Keely must have felt, and still be feeling. Never knowing whether he was staying or going. Not knowing how the rest of her life was going to pan out. It sucked.

He leant against the car in the drive, and closed his eyes, hoping, wishing…

"Hi," Keely's voice came from the porch. It wasn't very loud, yet she didn't look sad. Her expression was hard to decipher. Whether or not she was moving or not was unclear.

"So?" Phil asked, standing upright, and walking over to her.

She sat down heavily on the porch, and Phil bit his lip.

"Oh. Well," Phil assumed, and then sat next to her. "Well, I promised myself that no matter what happened, I was going to tell you this. And I can't chicken out. Keely, I love you. I think I always have. Ever since Tanner. And then there was Marla. And then there was the dance thing with the bull. And the Virtu thingy. And the Ladies Choice Dance. Every little thing pointing toward the huge realisation, that I loved you. And I hope that you love me too."

Keely looked at the ground, hardly daring to believe.

"Well?" Phil asked.

Keely turned her head, and she broke into a smile. "Well, it's a good job we're not moving then, right?"

"What?" Phil yelped. "And what about what I said? What did you think about that?"

Keely hesitated, but then leaned forward and kissed him. When she pulled away, she bit her lip.

"That good, huh?" Phil asked, smiling.

Keely just smiled, and then tilted her head up towards the sun. Feeling great and feeling alive.

**I love the clip of Aly & AJ's new song, that's on their Hollywood records website. Does anyone else? Woo! I know all the chorus already…!**

**Well anyway, probably another chapter. And I've written the first chapter of the next project, so you won't have to wait too long for that one. **

**Review now!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Hey, and welcome to Benny's Burger Bar. How can I help you?" said a blonde girl, in a bored tone. She spent too many hours in this awful place. And all for what? One dollar fifty an hour.

"Can I have four cheeseburgers? And a coke. And a coffee. And two lemonades? And fries. Four packs of fries. It's not all me eating it!" another blonde said, smiling sympathetically at the girl behind the counter. She pulled out a twenty dollar bill, and handed it over. "You keep the change. And totally make sure that you get it. I know how it feels to earn the dismal wage that they pay you."

"You worked here?" the worker is suddenly interested. "But aren't you Keely Teslow? The famous news reporter?"

Keely nodded, and smiled. "And you're Becky?"

"You know me?" Becky blushed bright red.

Keely smiled. "I read your tag."

"Oh," Becky blushed even more.

Keely ignored this, and carried on. "But Becky, the point is, you work here, figure out how much it sucks, and then do everything in your power not to end up like all the fifty-year-olds working here."

Becky laughed, and handed Keely her order. "Thanks."

"No problem. I know how it feels to be a teenager, an employee of this Burger Bar and a dreamer. Keep dreaming Becky. Plus, that guy over there, is totally checking you out," Keely finished, taking her stuff and walking over to the table, where three other people were sitting. A blonde man and a brunette woman were holding hands, and a dark-haired man was waving at her from across the room.

"Who was that?" Owen asked, tilting his head over in the direction of Becky, who was staring at Keely's back in admiration.

Keely grinned. "A fan. A teenager. An exact replica of me when I was that age. Take your pick."

"So you played the part of advice columnist?" Via asked, taking a fry and popping it into her mouth.

Keely took her lunch, and nodded. "It was the least I could do."

"Keely likes giving people advice. And making people feel better. And hugging them when they're down. And kissing them. Or wait, is that just Phil?" Owen asked, tearing the paper off of the straw.

Phil laughed. "It's just me."

"Shame," Owen said, earning a punch on his arm from Via. "Ow!"

Keely rolled her eyes. "Owen, you seriously have to stop saying stuff like that, and then complain when you're long term girlfriend punches you on the arm. If Phil said something like that, he'd be paying for weeks."

"Oh really?" Phil said, disbelievingly, biting a fry.

"Yes, really," Keely retorted. "I'd give you the silent treatment."

Phil clutched a hand to his heart. "Say it's not so!"

"Shut up," Keely said, fighting the urge to smile. "So, what's up with my best friends then?"

Via looked at Owen, and smiled. "Check it out yourself." She extended a hand, and Keely gasped at the sight of the rock that was on one of her fingers.

"No way! And you waited until we were here to tell us?" Keely screeched.

"Well, this was where you told us about your big news. Both of the announcements you made were here," Via said, looking ecstatic. "So we thought that this was the official announcement place."

Keely smiled.

"That's awesome, you guys. I knew you liked him, Via!" Phil joked, and grinned at both of them.

They had been dating for about as long as Phil and Keely had, and even though they'd waited a bit longer to get married, they looked glad that it was happening.

"Speaking of which, the kid is due, when?" Owen asked, beckoning to Keely.

Phil laughed. "October. Is that alright with you?"

"So, we're thinking of a date for the wedding. And we wanted to check when the baby was due, so that we could work around that. Before or after?" Via asked. "Presuming you guys want to come."

"Of course we want to frikin come!" Keely cried.

Via smiled. "Okay, so obvious, you're my bridesmaid. Or maid of honour. Do they have those in America?"

"Diffo, you're my best man," Owen stated, not giving Phil a choice. Not that Phil would have declined the offer, it was just a weird way to put it.

"So, before or after?" Via asked.

Keely shrugged. "Maybe before. After might be difficult. But heck, it's you're frikin wedding, you decide!"

"Before?" Via turned to Owen and asked.

"Before," he agreed.

Keely clapped her hands. "Okay, so me and you need to plan everything. Dress, flowers, location. Food! We need to plan food!"

"Keely, calm down. You have a while. About another seven months," Via calculated.

"But you did all that fabulous stuff for me, so you deserve something in return. So, your wedding is going to be the second best wedding in the world!" Keely said.

Via wrinkled her nose. "Second best?"

"Besides mine, obviously," Keely smiled, and looked at Phil, who squeezed her hand.

Via laughed, and took a bite of her cheeseburger.

"How are you so cool about all this?" Keely asked in disbelief. She hadn't eaten anything since their announcement.

Owen had finished his cheeseburger, and was now attacking his French fries. Via just smiled.

Phil rolled his eyes at Keely, and took one of her fries.

"Stop taking my food!" she snapped, and hit his hand lightly. "I'm eating for two now!"

Phil sighed. "You're not eating at all!"

"That isn't the point," Keely said. "And you know it."

Via groaned, but it was fake. "Is this what married life is like? Owen, what are we letting ourselves in for?"

Keely smiled, and began eating again.

Four friends, eating around the table. Each happy in their own way.

Then and now.

**Okay, I'm a gonna post up another story tomorrow. Or maybe if I get impatient, tonight. But review for this one as well. **


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